Has the time finally come for 'mediocre' White Sox to blow up roster and rebuild?

Chris Sale has been pitching for the Chicago White Sox since 2010. The best starter in the American League, Sale's next playoff appearance will be his first.

Jose Quintana has been pitching for the Sox since 2012, and he has established himself as a Top 10 starter in the league. Like Sale, Quintana has nothing to show for it.

As the White Sox stumble their way to a fourth straight losing season, wouldn't it make sense to trade Sale and/or Quintana for a sizable haul of young talent?

Rebuilding has never been the Sox's way, but the patchwork strategy of surrounding their four core players - Sale, Quintana, the slumping Jose Abreu and Adam Eaton - with mostly marginal veterans from outside the organization is simply not working.

Returning home Thursday from a harrowing 1-5 road trip against the Los Angeles Angels and Seattle Mariners to open the second half of the season, general manager Rick Hahn strongly hinted that it might be time for the White Sox to blow up the current roster and start over.

Hahn did flatly say the Sox won't be adding a "rental" player before the Aug. 1 nonwaiver trade deadline.

"We have not ruled anything at this point, other than the rental acquisition," Hahn said. "We've got to stay open-minded. We're not where we want to be.

"We've spent a fair amount of time focusing on the here and now for the last few years and it hasn't paid off as handsomely as we hoped. So we have to stay open-minded."

Heading into Thursday night's game against the Detroit Tigers, the White Sox were 271-340 since September 2012.

Jerry Reinsdorf has long been an "all in" type of owner, but Hahn indicated the Sox's chairman likely would green light a fresh start with young players.

"Jerry is very open-minded to all the options in front of us," Hahn said. "This isn't the first conversation we've had about this. We've had these conversations going back to 2013, about whether now is the right juncture to do it.

"That's based upon not only the talent we have under control but the talent we have coming and what's available via trade or free agency.

"Over the last couple of seasons, we have not elected to go that route. We've instead been focused more on the immediate term future.

"At this point in time, I'd say there's a very open-minded approach not just from Jerry but from the entire front office about what is the most prudent course to get us on an annual basis to where we want to be."

With the Aug. 1 nonwaiver trade deadline approaching quickly, don't be surprised if Hahn trades veteran players such as Melky Cabrera, David Robertson, Zach Duke, Brett Lawrie and possibly Eaton and Todd Frazier.

"There's no loyalty in this game," Eaton said. "There's zero loyalty in this game. Sell tickets and win ballgames, that's what ownership and the front office wants to do. However they want to do it, that's how they're going to do it."

As for trading Sale and/or Quintana, Hahn likely would wait until the off-season to get better players in return. Interested teams now, like the Boston Red Sox and the Texas Rangers, wouldn't want to give the White Sox players off their 25-man roster because they're in the midst of making a playoff push.

In the off-season, all 30 major-league teams are trying to get better and are typically willing to offer more in trades. Additionally, the upcoming market for free-agent starting pitchers is going to be very thin, and that makes Sale and Quintana even more valuable.

"In theory, you're only dealing with the teams that are competing," Hahn said of current trade talks. "Additionally, those teams that are - quote, unquote - buyers tend to not want to touch their big-league clubs. They're obviously trying to reinforce it.

"So you're talking about the pool of prospects from the teams that are looking to add and that may not be potentially the time to want to deal. You may have to wait until the off-season to do something dramatic."

Be it now or later, it would behoove the White Sox to do something dramatically different and start over with young players.